please explain how the nat. debt could increase by $297.9 billion more than the reported deficit
2007-09-18 16:56:07 · 2 answers · asked by DIP318 1 in Social Science ➔ Economics
I think it is due to different treatment of the the social security trust fund when calculating the deficit and the debt. The excess in SSI taxes are counted as revenue when calculating the deficit, but since government bonds are issued to the trust fund in the amount of the excess, it is added to the debt.
2007-09-19 00:04:30 · answer #1 · answered by meg 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually, now that meg mentions it, she's on the right path.
The national debt includes intergovernmental debt (debt owed by one government agency to another) but this is obviously not included in the federal deficit. Social Security, as meg mentions, is a great example of this.
2007-09-18 17:06:00 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋